Timer



April 22, 1952 F, LUX 2,593,905

TIMER Filed March 1'7, 1948 2 $HEETSSHEET l Patented Apr. 22, 1952 TIMER Frederick Lux, Middlebury, 001111., assignor to The Lux Clock Manufacturing Company, Inc,, Waterbury, Comm, a corporation of Connecticut Application March 17, 1948, Serial N 0. 15,469

Claims.

This invention relates to timing devices, and more particularly to a device sometimes called an interval timer.

Devices of this character have a wide range of usefulness, but are often used, for example, in cooking operations, and they are so constructed that they may be set to sound an alarm after a given interval of time has elapsed. In presentday cooking operation, particularly when pressure cookers are used, the cooking time of many foods is comparatively short, and it is, therefore, desirable that the timer operate accurately, for an error of a minute, or a fraction of a minute, may make a considerable difference. By accurate operation, it is meant that the alarm or other signal will be sounded at the desired interval of time after the timer has been set.

It will be understood that the shorter the interval, the greater the necessity of accurate timing, for, while an error of a short period might not be serious if the cooking period was an hour or more, it might be serious if the cooking period is only a few minutes.

Devices of this character have usually been constructed with a dial on the front of the case in which they are housed, and an indicator or pointer in front of the dial and adapted to be turned to set the timer for a given interval of time. This pointer or indicator is usually rigidly mounted upon a shaft extending through the front of the case, and the shaft is operated by a clockwork of some kind, usually a spring motor. One difiiculty with such an arrangement is that the pointer is usually molded with a square opening which fits tightly upon the squared end of the shaft of the clock mechanism. Due, however, to inaccuracies in manufacture, the pointer very often does not register correctly with the indications on the dial, so that the gong or other signal will not sound when the pointer or indicator registers zero. Therefore, if the indicator is turned, for example, to five minutes, the alarm may sound in four and one-half minutes or in five and one-half minutes due to inaccuracy of manufacture.

Moreover, as the dials are usually arranged for a total interval of one hour or more, which total space is divided into indications for each minute, such indications will be relatively close together, so that close or accurate setting of the device is diiiicult. As the size of the case, and, therefore, the size of the dial, is limited, and. as there must be sixty of these indications about the dial, it is difficult, if not impossible, to set the timer for a fraction of a minute.

I contemplate by the present invention the manufacture of a timer, which is so constructed that it may be accurately set for relatively small intervals of time, and which will also be usable for longer periods during which great accuracy may not be required. To effect this result, I construct the device With a movable dial, which dial cooperates with a fixed indicator or pointer upon the case, and, instead of mounting this dial rigidly upon the shaft of the clockwork, I connect the dial thereto by gearing, such that the di'al rotates at a greater angular speed than the shaft of the clockwork. Thus, the indications on the dial, which indications may denote one minute intervals, will be spaced further apart than if the dial were mounted directly upon the shaft of the clock.

Moreover, in order that the timer may also be used with relatively long intervals of time, I provided a second dial, which, in this instance, is mounted directly upon the shaft of the clock, this second dial being used for longer intervals of time not covered by the dial previously described, and I provide this second dial with a transparent portion or window or opening through Which the first-described dial may be seen and read. I, therefore, have in the present construction two dials, one rearwardly of the other, and which may be observed through an opening in the other, the rear dial being used for the shorter intervals of time, and the other dial taking over when this shorter period of time is exceeded.

One object of the present invention is to provide a timing device which will operate accurately and efficiently, particularly for relatively short intervals of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a timing device wherein the movable part of the indicating mechanism is moved at an accelerated rate as compared with the shaft of the timing mechanism, so that the indications marking the intervals of time may be spaced a considerable distance apart.

Another object of the invention is to provide a timer having two movable dials operated by the clockwork of the device, one of said dials being operated at an accelerated speed with respect to the other, and the slower dial being employed for the longer intervals of time.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an interval timer of the character above described in which the outer and slower moving dial is provided with an opening or transparent portion through which the inner dial may be seen.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an interval timer of the character described in which the transparent portion of the outer dial will serve to magnify the indications on the inngr dial, so that these indications may be easily rea To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a timing device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the case, some parts being shown in elevation;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the face of the case of the timer showing the latter set for an interval of ten minutes;

'Fig. -5 is a View similar to Fig. 4, showing the timer set for an interval of twenty minutes;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the case with the outer dial removed; and

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the inner or rear dial.

To. illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown an interval timer comprising a case i having a front or face portion [2, this portion being provided with an opening [3 through which an inner dial may be viewed, as will be hereinafter explained.

Within the case is secured a supporting member [4, shown more especially in Figs. 2 and 3, which supporting member serves to support the clock mechanism l5. The latter may be of any approved type, and is not shown herein in detail. The supporting member M, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with an opening is in which is mounted certain gearing, as will be hereinafter explained, and a spacing nut l1 serves to .hold the clock mechanism I and the rear wall of the casing in proper spaced relation.

The clock mechanism l5 drives a shaft IB, which is journaled in the movement iplate li of the clock mechanism, and, as shown more especially in Figs. 2 and 6, extends through an opening in the face l2 of the casing l9. The extending end of this shaft I8 is square or polygonal, as shown at l9, and non-rotatably mounted thereon is a dial to which is rigidly secured a thumbturn 2! by which the dial may be rotated.

The dial 20, as shown in Fig. 1, has a series of indications thereon, these indications being so spaced that there will be one space representing each time interval of one minute during the rotation of the dial by the clockwork, and the clockwork is arranged to move the dial through a complete revolution in an hour, so that the indications range from zero to sixty except on a transparent portion of the dial, as will be hereinafter explained.

' That portion of the dial which corresponds to intervals between fifteen minutes and sixty minutes is opaque, and is provided not only with the marks or indications for each minute, heretofore referred to, but is also provided with numerals indicating the number of minutes in certain of the intervals. The portion of the dial 2!], however, which represents the interval between zero and. fifteen is of transparent material, as shown at 22, so that an observer looking at the timer may see the face portion l2 of the case through the transparent portion 22 of the dial 29, and,

in addition, may look through the opening 13 in the face I2 and view a second dial mounted within the case of the clock behind the face l2, as will be hereinafter explained. The transparent portion 22 is not provided with spaced indicating means, as is the remainder of the dial 20, for this dial will not ordinarily be used for timing intervals up to fifteen minutes, but will be used only for time intervals longer than fifteen minutes.

As shown more especially in Fig. 2, the dial 2!) is of convex shape outwardly, and, as the transparent portion of the dial is of similar shape, it will serve to magnify objects seen through it, and thus will magnify the inner dial seen through the window l3.

A fixed pointer or indicating mark 26 is arranged on the case, and itwill be understood that, as the dial 29 is turned to set the timing device for a given interval, the mark on the dial indicating the desired interval will be brought opposite the indicating mark 24 upon the case. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, where the timer is set for a twenty-minute interval, the mark opposite the numeral 26 upon the dial will be in registration with the indicating mark 24 upon the case.

It will be apparent that, as the dial 2U isfixed upon the shaft 18, the dial will be rotated synchronously with the shaft, and, as this dial is dividedinto 60 timed spaces, each one must be comparatively small, and, therefore, close and accurate setting of the dial is difficult. Moreover, as there may be error in the manufacture of the squared end l9 of the shaft 18 and as there also may be error in the square opening in the part 2!, it is not always possible to provide for the sounding of the alarm when the zero mark on the dial 2i! registers with the mark 24 on the case.

To eliminate such errors and to render possible close setting of the timer, I have provided a second dial which may be used for shorter intervals of time. For this purpose, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a gear 25 is mounted on the shaft l8, which gear meshes with a smaller gear 26 mounted on a stud shaft 21 secured to the movement plate w of the clock mechanism l5. Se cured to the gear 26 is a larger gear 28, the teeth of which mesh with those of a pinion 29 loosely mounted on the shaft It. In the present modification of my device, the proportions of the gears and pinions are such that the pinion 29 will be rotated at four times the angular speed of the shaft iii. In other words, the pinion 29 will make a complete revolution for every quarter revolution of the shaft 18.

An inner dial 3! is secured rigidly to the pinion 29, and, as shown in Fig. 2, this dial is disposed within the case rearwardly of the face 12. Upon this dial are indications denoting time intervalsup to 15, and, as the shaft i8 makes a revolution each hour, the dial 3| will make one revolution every fifteen minutes, and the interval markings are so arranged on the dial 3| that each quarter minute is shown, thus enabling this dial to be set accurately for each quarter minute. As stated, the dial 3| is mounted rearwardly of the face I2 of the casing, but the portion of this dial adjacent the indicating mark 24 may be viewed through the opening l3, as shown, for example, in Figs. 1, 4 and '7, and, of course, must be seen through the window or transparent portion 22 of the dial 20.

As accurate setting of the timing device is not considered so important for intervals greater than fifteen minutes, the dial 3! is arranged to be used for any interval smaller than fifteen minutes, and, therefore, the transparent portion 22 of the dial extends over the portion of this latter dial which would correspond tothe first fifteen minutes of any interval. In other words, as it is desired to set the timer for an interval of fifteen minutes or less, this is done by turning the fingerpiece 2| until the proper marking on the dial 3| has been brought opposite the mark 24 upon the case, this marking on the dial 3! being viewed through the opening I3 and through thetransparent portion 22 of the dial 20.

As previously stated, when the dial 2!! is moved 'bythe fingerpiece 21, the dial 3| will be moved four times as fast, so that the latter will make acomplete revolution while the former is travelling from zero to fifteen. Therefore, when the dial 20 has been turned to an interval corresponding to fifteen minutes, the dial 3| will have made a complete turn and will again register zero, but, at that time, the transparent portion 22 of the dial 20 will have passed beyond the registering mark 24, and, whereas up until this period the time intervals will be indicated by cooperation between the mark 24 and the indications on the dial 3|, after the period of fifteen minutes is reached, the time interval will be indicated by cooperation between the indications on the dial 20 and the mark 24. Therefore, while any interval of fiteen minutes or less will be measured by the inner dial 3|, when the interval of fifteen minutes is exceeded, the outer dial 20 will automatically take over, and any longer interval will be measured by the indications upon this dial. no

The present construction also makes possible the assembly of the parts so that the zero'mark upon the dial 3| will always register with the indication 24 when the gong is sounded. In order to socalibrate the timer, the dial 31 is first mounted frictionally upon the hub 32 (Fig. 8) of the pinion 29. This pinion is then slipped upon the shaft is until its teeth mesh with the gear 28. The clock mechanism is then turned until the alarm sounds. If the zero mark on the dial 3| does not register with the indication 24, when the gong sounds the dial 3| is rotated on the hub 32 until such registration is effected. With the parts in this position, the pinion 29 and dial 3! are removed from the shaft I8, and the metal of the hub 32 peened over in recesses in the dial, as shown at 33, thus rigidly securing the dial to the pinion. When the pinion is replaced upon the shaft with its teeth in mesh with the teeth 29, the zero mark will thereafter always register with the mark 24 when the clockwork is in position to sound the gong.

It will be obvious, therefore, that by the present construction I have not only provided a dial having an accelerated movement with respect to the movement of the clockwork, so that small intervals may be accurately timed, but also, by mounting the dial 3| loosely upon the shaft of the clockwork, I may secure this dial to the pinion which carries it in such a way that the zero indications will be in accurate registration when the alarm or gong is sounded at the end of a time interval.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spiritof the invention and within the scope of'the claims.

What I claim is:

l. A timer-comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, a dial rotatably mounted with respect to the case, means for r0- tating the dial from said shaft at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, a second rotatably mounted dial driven by said shaft at a slower speed than the first dial, fixed indicating means on the case to cooperate with said dials, said first dial being disposedbetween said second dial and the clock mechanism, and said second dial having a transparent portion through which the inner dial may be seen.

2. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, a dial rotatably mounted with respect to the case, means for rotating the dial from said shaft at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, a second rotatably mounted dial driven by said shaft at a slower speed than the first dial, fixed indicating means on the case to cooperate with said dials, said first dial being disposed between said second dial and the clock mechanism, said second dial having a transparent portion through which the inner dial may be seen, and said transparent portion magnifying the portion of the first dial seen therethrough.

3. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, an inner dial rotatably mounted on said shaft, gearing driving said dial at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, an outer dial fixed on the shaft so as to be driven thereby at the same speed as that of the shaft, and said outer dial having a transparent portion through which the inner dial may be seen.

4. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, an inner dial rotatably mounted on said shaft, gearing driving said dial at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, an outer dial fixed on the shaft so as to be driven thereby at the same speed as that of the shaft, said outer dial having a transparent portion through which the inner dial may be seen, fixed indicating means on the case, indicia on each of said dials to cooperate with said indicating means, and the indicia on said inner dial being concealed except when seen through the transparent portion of said outer dial.

5. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, a dial rotatably mounted with respect to the case, means for rotating the dial from said shaft at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, a second rotatably mounted dial driven by said shaft at a lower speed than the first dial, fixed indicating means on the case to cooperate with said dials. said first-named dial being disposed Within the case, said case having an opening through which indicia on said inner dial may be seen, and said second dial having a transparent portion adapted to register with said opening to permit the inner dial to be seen through both the outer dial and said opening.

6. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, including a driven shaft, a dial rotatably mounted with respect to the case, means for rotating the dial from said shaft at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, a second rotatably mounted dial driven by said shaft at a slower speed than the first dial, fixed indicating means on the case to cooperate with said dials, said first-named dial being disposed within the case, said case having an opening through which indicia on said inner dial may be'seen, said second dial having a transparent portion adapted to register with said opening to permit the inner dial to be seen through both the outer dial and said opening, and said outer dial being otherwise opaque whereby said inner dial may be seen only when said transparent portion is opposite said opening. v

'7. A timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein, a shaft driven by said mechanism, means for indicating the passage of a pre-determined interval of time, said means comprising inner and outer dials mounted to rotate on the axis of said shaft and driven thereby, both of said dials having indicia thereon to indicate time intervals, said outer dial having a portion through which the-indicia on said inner dial may be read but otherwise obscuring said inner dial, and one of said dials being driven at a speed in excess of that of the other.

8. A. timer comprising a case, clock mechanism therein including a driven shaft, a dial rotatably mounted on said shaft within the case, said dial having indicia thereon to indicate time intervals, gearing connecting said shaft and dial to drive the latter at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, indicating means fixed with respect to the case to cooperate with the dial, said case havin an opening through which a portion of the indicia on said dial may be seen, and an outer dial secured to said shaft without the case and having a portion exposing said opening and said-outer dial having indicia thereon to indicate time intervals different from those of the first dial.

9. A timer com-prising a case, clock mechanism therein including a driven shaft, an inner dial rotatably mounted on said shaft, gearing driving said dial at a speed in excess of that of the shaft, an outer dial fixed on the shaft so as to be driven thereby at a speed the same as that of the shaft, both of said dials having indicia thereon to indicate time intervals and said outer dial having an arcuate portion through which the inner dial may be seen but otherwise obscuring said inner dial from view.

10. A'timer as in claim 9 wherein the speeds of the two dials are so related that a complete revolution of the inner dial will occur during rotation of the outer dial through an angle equal to that subtended by said arcuate portion.

FREDERICK LUX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,268,133 Carlson Dec. 30, 1941 2,356,554 Weisz Aug. 22, 1944 

